Free
by PhoenixDowner
Summary: Before they can move forward, Kairi and Naminé need to talk about something in their past. Contains spoilers for KH3. For Day 20 of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Countdown Challenge.


For Day 20 of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Countdown Challenge - Confession.

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Kairi normally tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, but something about the man in front of her told her that was a bad idea. **  
**

Maybe it was his snide smile or his cruel sneer. Maybe it was his black coat or the way he towered over her.

Or maybe… maybe it was because he had yellow eyes and pointy ears. Not even his flowing pink hair could disguise that fact.

Her hand twitched, and a moment later, Destiny's Embrace answered her call.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" she demanded. No more kidnappings. No one else was ever gonna take her again, not without a fight.

The man summoned a scythe and lazily swung it behind his shoulder. "I came to see you because I have a message for Naminé."

"Naminé?"

Kairi glanced behind her, and sure enough, her Nobody had appeared, looking even more like a ghost than she had the last time she'd seen her. She met Kairi's eyes, and that was when Kairi knew.

She stepped in front of Naminé and held her Keyblade out. "You're Marluxia! You're the man who kept Naminé imprisoned!"

Marluxia smiled. "Very good, Kairi. Naminé must have shown you her memories." He glanced past Kairi. "You did show her everything, didn't you?"

Kairi didn't like the way Marluxia had just said "everything." She kept her Keyblade drawn but stole a glance back at Naminé, who was clutching her arm and staring at the white ground beneath her feet. Kairi recognized this place from Naminé's memories, though she had never been there herself.

Castle Oblivion. Marluxia had ties to this place, too.

"Oh, you haven't told her, have you?" he said, his voice making Kairi's skin crawl.

"Told me what?" she said, her heart pounding as her gaze went from Naminé to him back to Naminé.

"Tell her, Naminé. She deserves to know the truth. Whose fault is it that she forgot about Sora? Whose fault is it that Sora forgot about her?"

Kairi lowered her Keyblade. "Naminé, what is he saying?"

Naminé hesitated.

"Tell her!"

Naminé winced. "I— Kairi, it was me."

"That's right, it was all her fault!"

Kairi whirled around to face him again. "What? That's crazy, Naminé would never—"

"No, he's right," came Naminé's voice, low but firm, and Kairi had no choice but to face her. "I was the one who tampered with Sora's memories. I was the one who made him forget you. I replaced all of his memories of you with me. And because of that, you forgot about him, too."

Kairi couldn't believe her ears. All this time, she'd thought it was her fault that she'd forgotten Sora. She'd blamed herself for what had happened. Only to find out that… Naminé was the one who had tampered with his memories as well as hers? Her kind Nobody who had done nothing but look out for her?

A gutted feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. "But why? Why would you do that?"

"She was jealous of you," Marluxia said. "She wanted Sora to look at her the way he looks at you."

"You were… jealous of me?"

Naminé's lower lip trembled as tears filled her eyes. "Kairi, I'm so sorry. I wish I'd never made him forget you."

Kairi's heart pounded in her chest. Was it really true? Was it really Naminé's fault she had forgotten Sora? Had Sora really forgotten her, too?

Well, even if it was true, something wasn't adding up here. The gleam in Marluxia's eyes hinted that there was more to the story. Eyes narrowing, she regarded him with a cold glare and pointed her Keyblade right at his heart.

"You. Get out of my heart. Whatever this is about, Naminé and I will figure it out together."

Kairi sent a blast of light in his direction, and he disappeared from the dream. Good riddance. Satisfied that he was gone, Kairi let her weapon disappear and took Naminé's hands in hers.

"Naminé, tell me what happened. I promise… no matter how bad it is… I'll listen."

Naminé nodded. "I should have told you long ago. The truth is, Kairi… I was lonely the moment I was born. I wanted someone to care about me. I can see Sora's memories, and… I saw the way he looks at you. I wanted what you two share for myself. It wasn't until later that I realized… the more I tampered with his memories, the stronger his feelings for you became. I could never replace you in his heart, no matter how hard I tried."

Kairi was silent, not really sure what to say to this. It was a lot to take in. After a few moments of silence, she gave Naminé's hand a reassuring squeeze, and Naminé continued.

"Marluxia kept me at Castle Oblivion, like I showed you before. He told me he'd keep me locked in the castle forever if I didn't obey him. My powers over memory were the key to his plan. He wanted to catch Sora and bring him under his control because he wanted the power of the Keyblade for himself. He thought that if I rewrote enough of Sora's memories, Sora would become his slave."

As Kairi had suspected. There was more to the story than Marluxia had let on.

"He manipulated and used you, Naminé. What happened isn't your fault."

Naminé's eyebrows furrowed as her eyes searched Kairi's. "You don't… blame me? Even though I knew what I was doing was wrong? Even though I wanted Sora for myself?"

Kairi couldn't help but smile at that. "Any girl would want Sora for herself. I can hardly blame you for that."

Naminé returned the smile, but there was something a little bittersweet about it. "He only has eyes for you, you know."

Kairi's cheeks got a little warmer at Naminé's words, and there was a knowing twinkle in Naminé's eyes as she continued.

"Eventually, I couldn't go against my conscience anymore. I stopped tampering with Sora's memories, and I told him the truth. Then I promised to make things right. It was the least I could do after all the trouble I caused him. So I told him I would put his memories back together, but there was a catch. He could either remember me, or remember you, but not both of us. And he chose you, Kairi."

Kairi's heart thudded in her chest. It was so loud, in this faded memory of a stark white castle that she'd never been to.

"He chose me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes. Even though I had unchained his memories of you, he still wanted you. He wanted what was real, not a fake like me."

Kairi brought her hand to Naminé's face, and it was solid and real beneath her touch. "Oh, Naminé. You're many things, but you're not a fake. Your heart is as real as mine is."

Naminé smiled at that. "Thank you, Kairi."

Kairi let her hand fall to her side as another thought occurred to her. "But does that mean… he doesn't remember you? He doesn't remember that you helped him get all his memories of me back?"

Naminé shook her head. "All he knows is that he's supposed to thank me."

Something stirred inside Kairi. "Naminé, we have to help him remember you! He'd be so upset if he realized—" She froze, all thoughts and plans fleeing her head at the sight of the tears shining in Naminé's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You really are too kind," Naminé said, wiping her eyes. "I was afraid to tell you, and here you are, trying to think of ways for Sora to remember me."

Kairi's hand found its way to her necklace. "Well… don't get me wrong. I'm not happy that you made him forget about me. We can't ever get back the year we lost, and I'd be lying if I said that doesn't make me sad. And… I guess… if I'm being completely honest… a little jealous, too."

It was hard to admit these things to herself, let alone another person. But Kairi knew it was true. The thought of Sora showing interest in another girl made this uneasy feeling settle over her stomach, and she knew what that feeling was.

"But I can't hold it against you, Naminé. You were in a bad situation and Marluxia was using you as much as he was using Sora. You're as much a victim as he is."

Naminé nodded. "It's true. But not any longer."

"No, of course not. You've done nothing but help him and help me since then. You're a good person, Naminé. I'm glad you're my Nobody." She paused and corrected herself. "No, not my Nobody, my friend."

"I'm glad you're my friend, too."

Kairi smiled and found Naminé's hands again. "And that means I want Sora to remember you, too. And not just that. You deserve to exist on your own. You have your own memories, your own feelings. And that means you have your own heart, too. I promise, Naminé, I'll find a way to bring you back. You and Roxas both. I know Sora feels the same way. We promised we'd be together so you two could be together, but that isn't good enough anymore. I want the two of you to be free so you can be together any time you want."

Naminé smiled again, and this time, there was no trace of sadness in her smile. "Thank you, Kairi."

As the dream faded away into morning, Kairi couldn't wait to tell Sora about her new promise. Someday, she would meet Naminé again, face-to-face. Sora would see Roxas face-to-face. He would remember Naminé, and she could introduce herself to Roxas properly, too.

The four of them would be friends, she just knew it.

And until that day came, she would never give up on finding a way for Naminé to be free.

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This story is dedicated to AnHeiressofaSOLDIER and DuskyDancing! Months and months ago we had a discussion about what might happen if Kairi and Naminé talked about what happened in Chain of Memories, and I'd been meaning to write something based on those ideas for ages. Well, today was the day and I finally got around to doing it. Thank you for the inspiration, you two, and I hope you enjoyed it!


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